Spooky Irish Folklore

With the coming of the celebration of the Feast of Saint Patrick, who died bringing Christianity to Ireland, we’re going to take a look at some spooky Irish folklore for this week’s blog.

First on the slate is the White Lady of Kinsale.

Once upon a time, a lady married a young officer in an active military fortress known as Charlesfort. A huge celebration erupted, and the bride and groom both feasted and drank and did wedding things, in the course of a normal wedding ceremony.

However, the problem arrives with the bridegroom having watch duty that night. Because of his heavy drinking, his feasting, and his possible lack of sleep, the young newly-wed fell asleep on watch. His commander came upon him by chance, and deciding that this was a massive dereliction of duty, shot him on the spot in a fit of rage.

After hearing of her new husband’s summary execution, the young bride threw herself from the castle walls. Today, she is known as the White Lady of Kinsale, and is always seen wearing a bride’s white dress. She will smile at children and is known to guard them against harm, but has also been known to react violently to the presence of soldiers, and will occasionally (allegedly) push them down stairwells.

Next, we have the story of the Beresford ghost.

Two orphaned children who were friends from two titled families once lived in Ireland. Upon those families dying or the families giving them up (the record is unclear, saying only that they were “orphaned’) the two went together to foster homes, to live under guardianship until they could come of age.

The first man they lived with, purportedly a Deist, (one who believes in God) taught them what he could of his religion, and the children paid attention.

Shortly thereafter, however, that guardian passed away, and the two children were shuffled to another. This one believed in something called the “revealed religion” which is a subset of Deism but materialises as a series of visions or omens which steer one’s life from birth to death.

The two children, having now heard both stories of what God is and how God operates, made a pact with one another. Should one of them die, the pact went, the other would come back and visit them from the grave, in order to clear the matter up. It must have seemed like a fantastic idea to two children who likely didn’t seriously believe that they would ever die.

Reportedly, it nearly scared her to death when she awoke in the night to find her childhood friend perched on the edge of her bedside, explaining that she would give birth to a son, her husband would die and she would remarry, and that she herself would perish on her forty-seventh birthday.

Claiming not to believe the ghost of her childhood friend, she demanded proof. The ghost responded by touching her wrist, causing it to shrivel and wither. The lady would forever after wear a black silk ribbon around her injury, having been forbidden by the ghost to show anyone.

As such things tend to go in folklore, each of the ghost’s predictions came true; including the lady herself dying on her forty-seventh birthday. This, shortly after writing her will in something of a hurry, having thought she was forty-eight that day until a priest came by to correct the record.

So there you are. Like Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, Ireland has its own ghosts and demons.

If you were looking for some ghosts and demons in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, then you couldn’t do better than a visit to the Nightmares Fear Factory.

In the Nightmares Fear Factory, you will find ghosts and demons aplenty. And who knows? They might be Irish, and they might be in the mood to celebrate the Feast of Saint Patrick.

So come down to Nightmares Fear Factory, near Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, and find out how brave you are.